Introducing the King!

Yes, this is the king of the appaloosas! Is this bragging? No, let him tell you why!

Oh, you have a few questions?

Why Osiris?

" I was born on Halloween, and thus am king of both underworld and my pasture!"

Why are you an appaloosa without visible spots?

"I am called a "ghost" (get it?) or few spot appaloosa, my spots are on my skin, not my hair. When I sweat, they really pop out!"

What does this mean for a breeder?

"It means your babies, no matter what the breed of mare is, will produce appaloosa color!"

Contact ME at 210-632-3244 or at cacostello@sbcglobal.net. Vicky Rizzo, who has bred appies for many years is my owner. I am available for breeding and maybe, to a lucky individual, for sale.

Emotions and Language

Reflection # 9
Discuss the role of emotional language in your L1 and L2. Which language is emotionally richer.

Although Spanish, French and some Japanese are available to me as speech vehicles, since I lived in Germany for so many years, I would like to dwell on emotional expression in that language. Is it because English has such deep Germanic roots that I found no problem in finding an emotional voice in German? I spoke not only to the family friends, and clients / customers in German, but also to my horses, and also conversed with dogs and cats in that tongue. I rarely used English after a point, only for language lessons, or by special request. I still like to talk to the animals in German--they take to it better than Texans do!

In summary, I don't feel that there is any emotion that cannot be expressed in German fully well as I can express it in English.

As your learners acquire (participate?) in their new speech communities do you see a change in their emotional language behavior.

For the Japanese I worked with in Germany, some of the more extroverted seemed to enjoy finding that they could express "off-color" language in English. The Germans were always looking to pick up slang and swear words. In Gender Linguistics last year, I did a paper on the use of English in German-language blogs. The use of slang and swear words was the most frequent type of language used, probably derived from pop culture such as movies, songs, magazines. Also combos of German and English such as "drogenfreak," Elvisverruckt," and "Handy" meaning a cell phone, are quite common. I always felt that the students felt more liberated expressing these terms in English rather than in German.

Reflect on the notion of (re)construction of self in your own L2 or L3 learning experiences.

Since I never thought much about my identity when I was living overseas, this never seemed to be a problem. I just understood that my nationality and viewpoint were different, but that often gave me a springboard to get to know people and ask questions to find out how and why things in a particular country were different. Whether it was France, Spain or Japan, I just felt like I fit in. Frankly I feel most strange in the US, where I was faced with reverse culture shock in 2002, after many years in Europe. That is one of the reasons that I love ESL--it's international.

Application of Language Tools

Reflection # 8
Okay. What is it going to be form-focused or communicative or a combination of both.
Back up your thoughts with some of the studies in LS Ch. 6.

First, control for variables! I have worked mostly with adults in both individual and classroom settings. Whether the class is multi-national or all speak the same L1 is critical. Also, motivational factors. Once that is clear, set the objective or purpose; what do I want them to be able to do at the end of class? Do they understand why and how it benefits them?

The answer to the above is--natch--a combination of whatever it takes to touch everyone in class, using visual, auditory, tactile, approaches in talking, listening, reading, and writing. Ready? Go!

I would start off in a communicative mode, say a conversation promoting something already read (that takes care of the read/listen (using enhanced input or input flood), to be done as homework)--get everyone's opinion. Some will talk more than others, but everyone will be expected to say something. That also takes care of the two for one--talking about opinions (a la immersion programs) concerning the weather, or home life.
When I hear what the problems are, I pick out the most critical, and then teach what is teachable (readies, unreadies and recasts) considering what we have already covered in class. I don't expect anyone to get it right from the beginning, although short sentences and phrases can be learned (audiolingual pattern drill for difficult items to pronounce) to facilitate life in ESL and to build confidence in pronunciation. Let's talk,(pair or group work) but with some focus on form, to ensure that the class is getting value added from the lesson rather than random conversation, which could well happen without a teacher.

At the end of class we would review the objective again, and perhaps do an exercise in group work to get it right in the end (e.g. collaborative dialogue.) Then the next step (i+1) would be tied into today's work in order to give a logical progression to the language and motivation to complete the homework.

What's the greatest influence in language learning?

Reflection # 7
From your experience, what are some of the affective factors that you encounter in your classrooms? How do they interfere in learning?How do lower the affective filter?
In classrooms filled with business people from the same companies, I have encountered affective manifestations ranging to aggression in relation to peers, to fear of speaking up. It is often necessary to thank the former for their copious contributions, fulfilling their need to be, "the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral." Then to curtain them in the interests of sharing the conversation. Often it is necessary to take the shyer people to the side, and speak with them in their native tongue to better understand the origin of their reluctance to participate. These reasons run the gamut from learning an L2 or L3, to local prejudice (e.g., the Turks in Germany). I would often insure that they felt safe in giving answers or participating, and then ask them to do so in front of the class, to build confidence.
Lack of self-confidence or self-esteem comes in many forms, as discussed with Ana yesterday. My impression is that it blocks what is known or what can be remembered, leaving the person feeling empty, frozen, or unable to respond.
Many of you work with children. What are some of the issues concerning motivation with children? How do address motivation in the classroom? Can you motivate them or does motivation come from within?
Motivation is both intrinsic and extrinsic. It is possible to give a children a different picture of themselves, and often this inspires them to live up to it. Positive motivative given by teachers and parents can develop into intrinsic motivation, and is one of the factors, when wide-spread, can influence the development of national motivation--e.g., Martin Luther King's influence on the Civil Rights Movement.

Is this tree green?

Reflection # 6
Re the Whorfian hypothesis: Are there concepts or ways of saying things in one of the languages that you speak that can not be said or expressed or the meaning changes in another of your languages?

Whorf's hypothesis was extensively addressed in the undergrad Linguistics course offered by Dr. Drinka. Does language influence thought and perception, or vice-versa? The best example of the former (Whorf) that I came across are the words for green and blue in Japanese. In Bonjinsha's Japanese English Dictionary (1992), "ao" is translated as blue, green. "Let's cross the street when the light turns green. with a note, "Although it usually means 'blue,' ao is sometimes used for 'green' as in aosingo (a green light) and aoba (green leaves)."

Under "midori," the translation is given as green, with the example," The green of the trees and grass is pretty in May." If there is a difference, it is almost indistinguishable from these definitions, unless it means green with a tinge of yellow. Do the Japanese see colors differently because of these words? Wakanaiyo!

How do you address culture in your classrooms? Do you go beyond the "holiday" model of culture?

At Hitachi, we had a cultural consultant present a seminar. We looked at the values held in esteem in Japanese and German cultures; for example, group work in Japan, versus rugged individualism in Germany. We then shared why we felt these values were important, and learned to better understand the drivers behind the behaviors of the groups. By the way, our definition of culture was, "It's the way we do things around here." Cultural adaptation and respect is one of the keys to success in working with people.

Reflection # 5
What is CAH and what are the differences between it and CLI?

The Contastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) states that errors in L2 are assumed to be a result of transfer or blocking due to L1. However, this behaviorally based hypothesis came under fire as researchers looked for more positive ways to approach L2 learning. Error analysis, for example, was used to determine how progress was being made in an L2. A case in point, *he buyed shows that the early learner is developing an ability to form the past tense. Eventually, the term cross-linguistic influence (CLI) came into use, and coalesced in the the definition of "interlanguage," which is the intermediate form, between the bookends of L1 and L2 fluency and accuracy. The nature of the interlanguage depends on the distance or closeness of the language groups to each other. Researchers have determined that it is a system with its own rules, thus being systematic and dynamic.

How can some of the concepts talked about in the Chpater (Brown ch 9) be used in the classroom, e.g., error analysis, CLI, Stages of learner language development, fossilization.

In teaching language, it is helpful to understand that there may be a pre-ordained way in which language structures are learned, and to follow this in order to build up step-wise competence. The examples given are negation, questions, possessive determiners, and relative clauses.Errors are valuable in that they point to what needs to be done, and also indicate progress, as mentioned above. Fossilization appears when learners give up for any of a range of reasons, mostly related to beliefs about themselves, often projected on the society or culture in which they live.

Although vocabulary is mentioned, I do not understand why the authors do not mention the value of ETYMOLOGY in helping students to more quickly amass numbers of words and to help them more accurately guess the meaning of words.

Is There a Critical Age for Optimally Learning a Language?

Reflection #4
Why do you think that it is so difficult for researchers to agree on the CPH (Critical Age Hypothesis). Give explicit examples from the readings.

Like much of the research in the social sciences, results are not repeatable in evaluations of the hypothesis (read "guess") concerning the criticality of age which is optimal for learning languages. I hasten to add that the critical age is set at puberty; Piaget determined that the great dividing point in facility of L2 acquision is at the age of 11. Krashen, on the other hand, sets the age at 5! In the diversity of studies of language acquision, it appears that all researchers agree that native accent, which is not necessarily a vital measure of competence in a language, is acquired before puberty.

Some of the more important studies in examining the CAH are:

Lenneberg (1967) and Scovel (1969) did biological studies of the brain, looking at the plasticity of the neurons and synapses prior to and after puberty. More biological evidence was introduced by Genesee (1982) showing the participation of the right hemisphere in language processing especially in L2 learners post-puberty.

Sociological evidence for the ability of adults to learn language come from the Tukano, tribes in South America, who showed language ability after puberty, as they were expected to marry exogamously, Hill (1970).

Also give examples from your own experience.

Due to my father's assignment in France, I was able to have the experience of learning a language before puberty, at 10 years old. All I can recall is that it must have been mostly subconscious, and I still maintain some of it to this day. People have told me that my accent is excellent, like a native speaker, but I admit I have to concentrate and imitate (fun!) to pull it off. My other languages have been learned during the teen years, my twenties, and when I was fourty-five, I started learning German. At first, I had to wrap my tongue (Zunge) around some of the words (hoehe=high), but persistance paid off. Of course, German and English are in the same language group, which may help. I was always very flattered when people mistook me for Dutch or Swedish; rarely was I marked as an American because of my accent in German!

Horses are Multi-Lingual!

Reflection # 3

• What is your learning style?


• Living in France when I was ten years old, I found it an adventure, and really don't even remember learning the language consciously, it just came with the air and food +wine, apparently. Having moved every year or two before that time (and afterwards) I was just happy to be somewhere where it was different. (However, this was not true of returning to the US to reside in Arkansas after France!) Thus I conclude that I was, even at that tender age, ambiguity tolerant, and intuitive, just accepting what came and dealing with it the best I could. In language learning I place emphasis on speed (e.g. of vocabulary acquisition) over accuracy, which I figure will come with more exposure, thus indicating I am probably more right-brain oriented, and more FD (big picture, people and psychology, inductive) with enough FI to figure out the details. Impulsivity is a hallmark, how else could I have ended up being kidnapped in Morocco, just pulling up and leaving for Germany for a new opportunity, or leaving a "normal" job to come back to grad school, taking (horse) driving lessons in Hungarian, etc? Probably my major hook into languages is auditory, as I can listen to opera and learn new vocabulary, or to tapes. Imitating people and accents has always been a sideline of mine. Don't ask me to get started . . .


• Have you ever taken a learning style inventory?


• No, but have worked extensively with the Myers-Briggs Personality Evaluation, and I can see some correlations. The inventory is very helpful to further analysis of students.


• In your classrooms as teachers how have you or do you address the issue of learning styles?


• I have done a lot of consulting and one-on-one work with adults and children. In addition, I have worked as a teacher for a seminar company, with the clear objective of delivering "edutainment," with compensation being related to the quality of the lectures presented. In these cases I have used psychological skills to find out what the problems were, often interviewing the seminar attendees before class, and then addressed myself indirectly to these problems, which, once cleared up, opened doors to learning. It is very helpful to have a list of styles to work from, rather than just using my experience and intuition. I believe that this information will also help me in the communication skills project in Electrical Engineering.


• Finally discuss your experience with learners' beliefs about language, of either your students or their parents.


• When children in Germany told me that they couldn't learn English, I would ask them if they were smarter than my horses. When they said yes, I let them know that my mares learned German, and didn't forget their English. Then we would put the horses on a line, and give them commands in both languages, which they understood perfectly. This may not have totally convinced the kids about their own abilities, but they sure admired the language skills of the horses!
• How has it affected your teaching?
• At UTSA, I am blessed to be working in an area which calls on my skills gained in the pharmaceutical industry, and I take pains, when delivering information, to tell the attendees why this is important when they get out into the "real" world.

Understanding how the brain and psyche work in language learning

Reflection #2
Offer some thoughts about what you see as a relationship between behavioral, nativist, and functional approaches to studying first language acquisition and your own experiences in learning or teaching a second language.

The behaviorist, nativist and functional approaches to language learning, or to society, would appear to define the history of education in general in the West. The behaviorist theory is a bit like training animals, or the military, with a conditioned response. The assumption that the learner brings nothing to the table is the greatest fallacy of this approach. It is useful to step up and say that I was trained in most of my schooling (present years excepted) by behaviorists. It does build good discipline!

Chomsky broke the mold by stating that indeed, the learner has a structure, in this case the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) hidden somewhere deep in the brain. And there are some universals, e.g., Universal Grammar, in language, despite the Tower of Babel story. This approach freed us up to honor our own creativity in language, as well as that of our students. Studies of children's language sequencing are helpful in conceptualizing how to introduce different language elements.

The functional approach, tied to Vygotsky and other Russians who did their work during the 30's! The importance of social interaction in learning language is a strong contention to activate what is in the brain. Rather than a grammar-translation approach, the functionalists emphasize the use of L2 to accomplish a task, as it is used in L1. Focus on Form developed by Long is a means of bridging the need to introduce some grammar and correctness into language teaching, which had been radically challenged by Steven Krashen, who proposed the Natural method and practically did away with the need for teachers!

Only in Dr. Wright's course and in (soon) Dr. Campbell's, have I personally experienced the Functional approach. Most of the other courses in English and certainly in Engineering, are Transmission/Behaviorist in approach.

In a second response, discuss the role of culture in first language aquisition. Many of you speak more than one language and English is your second language. Do you think the child-parent interaction is different in the United States' English speaking population and a non-English speaking population that you are familiar with?

Briefly, let's define culture: It's the way we do things around here. So different cultures will influence the way a child learns a language. Look, for example, at some cultures where it is thought normal, or natural, that a child learns up to three or four languages, so that they can speak the standard language, a dialect, and talk to Grandma or Grandpa in another tongue. Isn't this fundamentally different from the insular position of many people in the US who feel that children are not capable of learning another tongue without it interferring with their main language. Not to mention that it is useless to learn another language as English is spoken by everyone who is worth communicating with where ever you go around the world?

Reflections

Reflections
Originally uploaded by ny156uk.

Reflections on ESL 6973

Sadly, we have completed Dr. Wright's Course. For most courses, there are champagne corks flying at the last class. But the content, practice, and participation in this course was so engaging and educational, that we don't want to say "Good-bye." I congratulate Dr. Wright for roaring success in the initial run of this course.

Learning by Doing

An excellently constructed course, we not only read about technology in the context of language learning, but implemented everything we read about. That included blogging, wikis, YouTube videos, flikr, RSS feeds, podcasts to the world, and acquisition of new friends through email from ChenChen, enrolled in an English program in Xian, China. A big advantage of the course is the quality of the fellow graduate students enrolled who bring a wealth of information and experience to the forum of the class.
Personally, I was able to utilize and even teach the skills and concepts learned. The Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. where I work has also benefitted from the concepts taught in this course, in the College of Education and Human Development! One of the profs met with Dr. Wright, and is integrating wikis in his grant proposal and also in his classes. I was able to put together a speech and podcast for one of the profs to study on a plane as he came back from Asia. In addition, for articulation lessons, I used the Audacity spectograms with great success for a private client. He is an electrical engineer and was impressed with the technology.
As I plan for classes which I will be teaching at the 1604 campus in the Fall semester 2007, the technology and also educational aspects of this course will serve me to stimulate original and better ways to teach communication skills to the juniors and seniors.

Software Evaluation #3--AccuTalk English

Suffer the Little Children

Title of Software: AccuTalk

Producer: Quote's Publications Co. Ltd. (Taiwan)

Target Students: Very disciplined Korean, Chinese, or Japanese children or teens. Other ethnicities may never get through the first ten minutes . . .

Proficiency level: Beginning to Intermediate

Description: By producing sounds in English from phonemes through words and sentences and requiring that the learner reproduce them, the program promises to teach pronunciation, intonation and expressions for mostly oriental learners. In addition, a testing unit is built into the program, so that even a non-native speaker could test the individual learning the language. Audiograms are used to evaluate pronunciation and intonation, and scores are provided for each.

Evaluation: "However, the process of studying pronunciation may be rather boring, learner should be patient and keep working because studying correct pronunciation is fundamental for studying English. Based on this, the learner will get surprising result upon studying intonation and expression."

This quote from the descriptive materials from the text sums it all up! It is bo-ring if not tortuous to sit through a session, where even native speakers have a hard time making 100
%. For those with the "sitzfleish" (ability to sit for long periods of time) of sufficiently motivated out of despair, this program may bring some little gain. Perhaps in the very young, whose myelin sheaths have not yet cut them off from native fluency, there could be some gain--but it's not fun! Do the kids even know what they are saying once they get to the word and sentence phase? Oh my, this seems to represent the worst of the "drill or kill" methodology of learning pronunciation, and has little built-in motivation.

The cute little boy featured in the film (part of the marketing material) at the phoneme stage, and later at the sentence stage is imitating the sounds, but does he even know what he is

saying? How much of his childhood is he giving up sitting there with an oversized headset at the computer? If he still believes in Santa Claus, he may well believe that the machine can grade his pronunciation.

No wonder some people hate language learning if they are forced to go through programs like this!

Piers on Lake Atitlan Guatemala

Piers on Lake Atitlan Guatemala
Originally uploaded by treffsie.

Mi hijo Trevor estaba en el Cuerpo de Paz (Peace Corps) por dos anos en Guatemala. Tuve la oportunidad de visitarle varias veces desde mi casa en Alemania.

Que pais tan lindo! Con gente extraordinaria, con un porcentaje de cerca 40% puros Indiginos.

De Antigua a Tikal, de la frontera con Beliz al Lago Atitlan, todo es una mezcla de belleza y pobreza.

Professional Development and the Internet

Reading Prompt #10
EGBERT Ch. 10. Teacher DevelopmentRICHARDSON Ch. 7. Fun with Flickr: Creating, Publishing, and Using Images Online
We've talked a lot in class about how technology can be used to help ELLs learn English. The internet is also an excellent resource for teacher professional development.

• Describe ways you have used internet resources for your own professional development as a language teacher.


• If you haven't already done this, describe some of the resources in the Egbert chapter you would be interested in trying.


• Next, briefly describe how images such as those from Flickr and other free photo sharing sites can be used in ESL classrooms.

I entered UTSA in the Fall of 2006. In addition to classes, I have jobs in three areas concerning usage of English: 1) teaching communications skills to Junior and Senior Engineering majors, 2) Proofreading compositions from both students and faculty, and 3)language consultation and coaching, mostly on articulation.

Internet resources and the readings, especially the newest in teaching approaches via Cummins, have stimulated me to reconsider my whole approach to teaching! I have come to realize the need for and power of "TV" like resources to grab the attention of the students, and then to intervene using questions to get them to help construct an opinion. This is more difficult with engineers than with other majors, as so much of their training is via transmission. For example, I plan to use YouTube more to ask what they think of the effectiveness and appropriateness of different styles of presentations. Grammatical corrections present more of a problem, as eyes glaze over at the mention of the word grammar, and I read their thoughts about this not being part of engineering. Websites (and Engineering websites or blogs--thanks Dr. Wright!) containing texts to be upgraded from colloquial language to engineering/scientific language can be used to get them to become aware and eventually make the upgrades to their writing. This obviates the need to preach to them about possessives, subject/verb agreement, etc. and offers a fresh incentive to use the constructivist approach to learning.

In proofreading, questions always come up about why the need for a certain preposition or the use of articles. As we all know, these elements are some of the most difficult to explain as there are few rules, and there seem to be more exceptions than rules. Web searches yield information regarding some of the rules, and having these handy (printed out) when certain questions come up, I can at least document a certain usage. However, nothing time-consuming or laborious is appropriate, as these individuals have very little time to concentrate on language vs. their academic subject matter.

In consulting work, both in Germany and in the US, articulation of certain sounds and syllable stress occurs as an issue amongst many clients. I have found that the Audiograms made of the client's spoken work via Audacity, in ca. 30 second segments, is most effective for review and discussion. This is the ultimate in AUTHENTIC input/output. In some cases, the phonetics websites are helpful, such as http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/

The wealth of materials throughout Egbert is overwhelming and will take some time to be digested. In Chapter Ten, the most seemingly useful sites, also excellently presented in class, are: EnglishClub.com (http://grammar.englishclub.com , Purdue's Online Writing Lab, and Languageand Linguistics: TESOL. These resources are for both L2 and L1! students.

The photos from Flickr are of high quality in many cases, and can be used to produce an attention-grabbing slide show, for example, via PhotoStory. In my case, a slide show or photos to lighten-up the atmosphere (funny pictures of people presenting) or to symbolize a state of mind--a beautiful scene associated with balance and confidence, for example, are unexpected and fun for the Engineers.

Arab-Appaloosa @ Clarcona Horseman's Park

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jadewolf/231983122/
Originally uploaded by jadewolf.

A great example of a good rider, relaxed and flashy Arabian and a pleasure to watch harmony in action.

Software Evaluation #2--Side by Side

Title of Software: "Side by Side" by Interactive

Publisher: Steven J. Molinsky and Bill Bliss, New York: Pearson Longman

Target Audience: Mostly teens and adults despite the presence of cartoons

Proficiency Level: Beginning and low intermediates

Description/Evaluation: Multimedia "Side by Side" contains short, interesting videos of attractive people speaking flawless English. It is possible to stop the video and work in segments of language, such as sentences. In addition, recording your own voice after one of the speakers allows you to listen and compare. However, no value judgments of how close you come to native quality are provided. The illustration shows the simplicity of the screen and controls. A written script of the dialogue is provided, and activities to practice the video material provided.

Activities include video segments which are to be placed in correct order, drag and drop the right word into questions, filling in your own information to the questions, etc. However, except for the video portions, the activities are STRANGELY SILENT.

The scaffolded lessons provide practice of previously learned material, and do not appear to attempt to overwhelm the student with too many new vocabulary words.

Writing skills are tested, and a model of the writing is presented side by side, but there is no assessment of errors. Again, everything is STRANGELY SILENT.

Grammar toons present, for example, the present tense of "to be" with appropriate pronouns, but there is no interactivity--just entertainment and another opportunity lost to learn!

The software is relatively easy to use: watch the video; orally practice the language looking at the script, if necessary; work your way through the activities, and then on to the next lesson, which should contain much of the vocabulary from the previous exercise.

I would use the software as a supplement to a LOT of spoken work in the classroom. Also, some noticing will have to be called in to help with selected Form on form grammatical enhancement of understanding of the language used.

The language skills targeted are: listening primarily, reading, writing, and some speaking. Passive rather than active skills appear to be the result of using this program, which is admittedly more entertaining than much of what I have seen.

There is an excellent full review of this version of "Side by Side" by Larry Statan of Contra Costa College in "Language Learning and Technology" http://llt.msu.edu/vol10num3/review3/default.html

Kidspiration Podcast Outline

Rita, Koyin and I decided to get together for breakfast at my place one Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful as we sat on the patio and talked about life in general, and what we wanted to do for a podcast specifically. With the strong international talent available, I volunteered to act as MC, and interview the experts on WHAT motivated them to learn English in the first place. Kidspiration helped us older kids plan the interview and think about what we wanted to say. So just using the outline, we had a great interview hoping that we could inspire learners to tell us WHY they wanted to learn English.

Podcast starring Carol (MC), Rita and Koyin.


Please listen to our podcast at: http://streamer.utsa.edu/ramgen/2007/Spring/FS/ESL6973.901.Wright/Trial.Interviews.mp3

Even better--here's a video taken at Carol's place of our "recording studio"!
http://streamer.utsa.edu/asxgen/2007/Spring/FS/ESL6973.901.Wright/recording.studio_output.wmv
Let us know what you think!

Cheers, Carol, Koyin, and Rita

Kidpix Slide Questions

Here are the slides from my Kidpix Geography Quiz:

Reading Prompt # 9

EGBERT Ch. 9. Limitations, Caveats, and Challenge
Which of the limitations, caveats, and challenges with regards to computer assisted language learning apply to your current (or future) classrooms? How could these be overcome?

It is refreshing that Egbert balances his text with examples of how technology can be counterproductive. It seems that rather than focusing on the goal: LEARNING--too many excuses are given as to how handwriting or spelling problems can be ameliorated or excused because of the computer. What about the day when the lights and batteries go out, and someone has to add numbers without a calculator or write by hand? Perhaps it is the generational difference, but at one time in the educational system you just had to learn even what you didn't want to, or fail. BTW, that meant getting a "D" or "F" with no excuses. And learning the language in France meant French! Again, no excuses!

Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful to have all the technological
advantages in the world, but it does not replace a teacher who knows how to communicate the subject material.

Last night, I saw one of our own, Joleen, stand up in front of a class for 20 minutes and teach a grammar point (the use of the "fantasy" conditional sentence with the "IF" clause; e.g., If I were rich, I would take us all to Pico de Gallo. No use of computer, blackboard, and just a few hand outs. She knew it, and knows how to teach it. She called on people by name to respond, and helped them out with hints until they got it right. So, taking a teacher like this: technology can be used for homework assignments on the blog or to reinforce via a website, but it is easiest to learn the materia from no other medium but LIVE.

Thanks Joleen!

Reading Prompt #8

CUMMINS Ch. 3. AssessmentEGBERT Ch. 8. Assessment
What is the difference between traditional standardized testing and authentic assessment? Describe how computers can be used for both. Which do you feel is a better use of computers? Describe examples from the readings or from your own experiences how comptures can be used effectively for assessment, and/or how to effectively assess the work students do via the computer.

We are all familiar with standardized testing--think GRE! Is it authentic? Hardly, as the purpose is to pidgeon-hole the student in a percentile, and does not provide a comprehensive evaluation, or rationale for what is considered correct or incorrect on the test. A recent "improvement" makes the test more sensitive to correct and incorrect answers, and adjusts questions depending on the previous answer. However, this is hardly authentic. Authentic testing is defined as tests which make assessments NOT on zip-codes or social class necessarily, but on intentional cognitive effort (what the student has learned) and achievement, such as work portfolios, which may include a variety of output.

Most computer-based assessment is standardized; however, Egbert lists several websites which offer assessment of a range of activities. Students are encouraged to post thier work to the web for feedback from their peers as well as their teachers, and from experts who can be made available. In the latter case, the computer is NOT the evaluator, but merely the transmitter, of information, which then is reviewed by a human being. This latter point is very important, as computer evaluation alone is soulless and tends to discourage, rather than stimulate, learning.

Work done on the computer in audio or graphics programs can be evaluated versus submissions by other students. This would include not only the subject matter being evaluated, but facility and creativity with the software. Once more, it is important that a person be available for evaluation and that computer skills be taken into consideration along with the subject matter assigned.

I'm not Lion!

Reading Prompt #7
EGBERT Ch. 7. Content-Based Instruction
What are some important techniques for designing content instruction that supports both language and content learning? Egbert gives several examples of ways content and language objectives can be combined with technology objectives. Share some of your own experiences or ideas for combining these. In other words, give a specific exmple of how you could teach a content-area lesson with integrates technology and supports language learning for ELLs.

At Hitachi Semiconductors in Germany, I taught International Presentation Skills to Germans and Japanese. So this is a good example of Content (how to present) and language training, as English was a foreign language for all. Of course, some students had better speaking ability than others, but then others were better at standing up in front of the room and talking! I used a combination of readings in German and English (except for the Japanese) and lots of practice using a video feedback plus comments during the class. Where there were problems with the language, we would take time to review L1 to L2 structures to facilitate expression.

Technology was a great aid, as it supported the most basic of learning principles: PEOPLE DO NOT ARGUE WITH THEIR OWN DATA. Video clips are easier than people to "coach" and the whole class was always curious to see the recordings. Students were motivated to read and practice by virtually seeing themselves as professionals.

The best part was when we compared the clips from the first presentation to that made at the end of the six weekly lessons! The dramatic improvement and confidence was VISIBLE! Given all the tools that Dr. Wright has introduced, such as the facility of using video podcasts, surely there are even better ways of motivating people with more modern technology than at that time.
Carol

Software Evaluation #1--Rosetta Stone

Producer: Fairfield Language Technologies
Target Students: Teens through Adults Proficiency Level: Advanced Beginner through Intermediate

Description: Rosetta Stone (RS) is a CD providing a multi-media approach to language learning. It uses pictures, sound on demand, and reinforcement of vocabulary learned by matching words with pictures to provide an authentic approach to the language. The program helpfully reviews what is learned, and provides scaffolding from words to conjunctions, such as "and" to the addition of placement of objects using prepositions; all while practicing the basic vocabulary provided.

In phase two of the Beginner's Addition, verbs are added to the nouns already learned. Using the sound print, learners are allowed to speak L2 into a microphone and receive a rating as to how accurate the imitation is.

Language skills targeted: Vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, writing, listening, and word recognition, as well as simple sentence formation.

Evaluation: In order to judge how effective RS would be in teaching beginners, I chose a language where I have limited familiarity--Mandarin. I would assume that Chinese learners would have problems similar to mine in using the English version of RS. Although it was easy to go from introductory to practice language sessions via the buttons, several problems presented themselves at once. There is a choice of pin-yin, which are alphabetic transcriptions of the characters with accents and umlauts. There is no chance to practice each sound individually or even to know what the diacritical marks mean, only the words. This is problematic as much of the difficulty in Mandarin (and Chinese dialect) interlanguage is pronunciation and the tone system. A simple example is the existence of sounds in Chinese, and not in English, such as "r" are very troubling. Sometimes it sounds like "L" or even "H" and sometimes faintly like "R." This pronunciation difficulty occurs in the first basic words presented to the learner.

The first words introduced are written in pin-yin, and there is no explanation why it takes seemingly three words to say "dog" or "cat." In other words the number and object counter are not explained. The same is true of "girl" and "boy," which are even longer. In looking at the Kanji characters, it is clear that number, counter, person, gender and the kanji for small are used for the word. However, you have to already know something about Chinese characters in order to decipher this. There are two sets of kanji available as buttons, and there is no explanation as to what the differences are.

The sound print of the voice tends to both help and frustrate, as even when the small indicator goes into the green, indicating native-like pronunciation, there is no way to know even if a "red" or "yellow" pronunciation is acceptable.

In summary, I feel that Rosetta Stone is a good way to begin and practice a language, but that teaching is necessary before turning someone loose with the program in order to direct efforts and ensure that frustration does not occur. It would be a good supplement to lessons in class, and provide early work with illustrations and vocabulary. A transcription of some of the language could be played in class, and students could work in groups to figure out what is being said, and then compare their anwers. Then they could be asked to say the opposite by replacing words, e.g., "dog" for "cat," and "boy" for "girl." For pronunciation, targetted work with the vocabulary and use of the sound print together could lead to more productive use of this instrument.

Dr. Wright's Prompt for 2/27/07

Reading Prompt #6
EGBERT Ch. 6. Inquiry and Problem Solving RICHARDSON Ch. 8. Podcasting and Screencasting: Multimedia Publishing for the Masses
Describe an inquiry or problem solving activity appropriate for ELLs that you have used, participated in, read about, or just now thought of. Describe which critical thinking skills it requires students to use and develop. Then, describe how this activity supports language and content learning for ELLs. Finally, comment on how podcasting could be used within the inquiry and problem solving process in a manner which supports language and content learning for ELLs.

Learning is facilitated by working on problems which are authentic, that is, that have something to do with the student's life. The chapter in Cummins which describes the teacher, Mr. Green's, approach to history by encouraging the students to perform a historiography of their own families, is a great example. Exercises which are engage active, rather than passive learning, have also been shown to be more effective. Like Mr. Green, development by the teacher of ELL of experiences which involve inquiry stoke the natural curiosity of the students, and in turning over the problem solving steps to the students, depending on their competence in the language, learners are motivated and empowered to learn more at a more accelerated pace, and can have more fun. The teacher then takes on the role of consultant rather than boss.

Multi-media is useful, as many different approaches to the same material facilitate the repetition required for learning a foreign language, without the tedium of outright memorization. An electronic wordless worksheet with pictures and audio descriptions could be presented to the learners. The students should all have had exposure to the words, but briefly, in both written and spoken form. The students would be asked to listen to a story containing the concepts pictured via podcast, using the vocabulary introduced, plus a few carefully chosen new words. They would then match the audio descriptions with the pictures by moving the pictures to the proper photograph. Finally, in class, groups of students could prepare sections of the story in their own words using the pictures, and tell the story in round-robin fashion. Each group would have to answer questions from the others concerning unknown words or something not understood.

The critical thinking skills exercised are:

• the ability to distinguish words and sounds from another, and to work with a small body of unknown sounds


• to query if the pictures match the description, and if the student renditions of the story are accurate


• recognizing connections, or lack of connections, between the segments of the stories


• resolve differences and clarify thoughts using L2

Prompt #5

EGBERT Ch. 5. Creativity and ProductivityRICHARDSON Ch. 4. Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All
Popular second language acquisition theories stress the importance of "comprehensible input." While most agree this is important, many others argue we also need to focus on output as well. What are some ideas you gained from the Egbert chapter about how technology can be used to encourage creativity and production? How does this help promote language learning? Share any experiences you've had with any of these or similiar ideas in language learning classrooms. Finally, comment on the potential of Wikis to allow language learners to collaborate in creative and productive ways.

Although it is useful to divide input from output for analytical purposes, let's not forget how much input is necessary before expecting output in L2. Depending on the desired output, input in a way that is enlivening and interesting (my philosophy of teaching is "edutainment") can be enhanced by technology. However, technology cannot do the job alone, without the guidance of a human brain adapting the media to the needs of the students, if applicable. Egbert also emphasizes that production alone or the availability of tools does not result in language learning. Teachers must adapt activities and tools to meet language learning objectives.

What can happen when students are allowed to work on their own with creative tools? Oftentimes they tend, in social situations, to turn to L1, and the teacher assumes the role of "Sprachpolizist"--the Language Policeman. Thus, motivation to use L2 in group exercises must be part of the kick-off activities. Creativity in L2 production might include charades if a concept in L2 is not recognized, a dictionary search (this is a potential WIKI application), or use of Google/Yahoo images to explain a concept, and role playing of authentic tasks, such as shopping or ordering in restaurants. In my experience, teacher authority and class control is of the essence in keeping the learners in L2 as much as possible.

WIKIs are a great way of documenting new learning. Imagine a homework assignment in which new vocabulary words are listed and defined by different groups in the class, and corrections to spelling or grammar made collaboratively. The teacher can "look in" on the production, and know what needs to be clarified in the next class. The concepts discussed come alive with photos, sounds, and videos. The learners would easily repeat and acquire new vocabulary, and see it in (sometimes unforgettable) context. This multi-media approach stimulates visual and auditory input and output!

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Reading Prompt #4
EGBERT Ch. 4. Communication & CollaborationRICHARDSON Ch. 5. RSS: The New Killer App for Educators
Why is communication and collaboration so important in the language learning classroom? What ideas did you gain from the Egbert chapter about how computers and technology can be used to faciliate greater communication and collaboration for students? Give any personal examples you have had using these or other ideas.

Note the etymology of the word collaboration--working together. This refers to the students and teachers negotiating and clarifying meaning, and working to understand the materials at hand. Rather than passivity and top-down aspects of the "transmission" form of education, 1) learners are active, and 2) listen and respond to material presented, working together or autonomously. When there is an information gap, the teacher is called for assistance, who then is able to clarify and suggest further means of pursuit of information.

Most of my experience comes from teaching adults (executives and professors). Being handed the power tool of an interactive work sheet made a huge difference in the success I achieved in pronunciation work just last week. The objective of the lesson was to help a foreign speaker of English with pronunciation difficulties, which he felt impeded him even after so many years in this country. I created a worksheet with audio versions of a text which was also written, and then asked my learner to make a recording of the same text. As he read, I asked him what was different from the way I had pronounced the sounds. We then circled letters and words on the worksheet, and using the aid of a phonetics website, were able to work specifically on problem areas. He re-recorded his readings until he was satisfied, and then we went on to the next line of text.

The summary and conclusions to this work were very positive. I compared his voice reading the entire text to a recording I had made earlier in the week, and the clarity of our practice text was astounding. Further, I sent him the electronic worksheet, so that he could listen again to any parts he wanted to further practice. He was very motivated and pleased with the methodology, and felt he was making progress.

There is an old saying in the motivational field, "People don't argue with their own data." My client could hear the difference in his pronunciation before and after our practice, and thanks to Dr. Wright, this happened through a tool that was efficient for this purpose and a good example of technology as handmaiden to language confidence enhancement.

Dr. Wright's Prompt #3

CUMMINS Ch. 4. Technology EGBERT Ch. 3. Developing and Practicing Listening and Speaking Skills
Cummins et al. discussed the pedagocial divide that separates instruction for low-income and for more affluent students. Discuss some of the technology-supported strategies from their chapter. Also comment on one of the examples from Egbert's chapter and describe how computers can assist ELLs with learing and practicing listening and speaking in English.

What is interesting about funding of projects deemed "important," whether it be education, foreign aid, or war, a rich country like the US has the capacity to throw money (or technological devices) at a problem. However, without an examination of the problem or challenge, devising of realizable goals, and proper training (behavioral modification), the results are undesirable or null (and we wonder why?).

Cummins points out in Chapter 2 on Pedagogy and in Chapter 4 on technology, that image of the teacher and the student as a successful learner using the technology at hand is critical. He argues that one of the major problems in integrating the multiliteracies (language competence and technology) is the divide between transmission (top down) and social constructivist/transformative (top up) approaches. In lower socio-economic areas, the pressure of the need to prepare students for the NCLB exam overwhelms the curriculum; thus leaving little to no time for other pedigogical focus. This is not true of more affluent schools, where children may be already better prepared the the NCLB exam, and thus have time to delve into techonology-aided learning. This is referred to as the "digital divide" by Wilhelm et al. (2002).

The use of commercial products is discussed, but most of the reviews are by the companies selling these products.
MOTIVATION is the key to learning; thus any measure of initial or continuing success is related to the student's desire to learn. There are several studies which indicate that technology can impact motivation:

• McMillan and Honey (1993) in a one-year study of grade 8 students found that those given laptops showed marked improvement in the ability to communicate effectively.
• Meskill and Mossop (2000) carried out a survey of techology use by over 800 ESL teachers over a two-year period. The children were excited to be able to create products of learning to share with others. Learning with e-texts was observed. They concluded that ELLs were enabled by technology to participate in class activities to the full extent of their intelligence and imagination. This is in contrast to the lag of one to two years that has been observed in young ELLs. The students were able to have control over their environment and learning, and shared their products with pride, becoming experts in the technology in the classroom and in the community.

My methodology for trying out language software is to pick a language in which I have not been schooled. Although I can get by in Italian, I do not know the formalities of the grammar and orthography. I chose Rosetta Stone, mentioned by Egbert, as it promised to not only teach the written and spoken form of the language, but to check pronunciation as well. Unfortunately I did not have a microphone for the demo to see how close the pronunciation has to be to "pass." Checking spoken language is of particular interest to me, as I have been asked to aid foreign-educated executives and professors with pronunciation in order to better their English speaking confidence.

Rosetta stone appears to have potential for English learners or reviewers in general as it is bright, colorful and simple, allowing the learner to proceed through the listening and reading section by matching a written and spoken statement with a picture. The pictures start with people or objects and a verb, and build up slowly in complexity.

Evaluation of speaking is offered, and promises to provide feedback through voice recognition until the speaker "gets it right." Speech can be slowed for better comprehension. Unfortunately, I was unable to use this feature.

The writing portion of the program states that dictation can be taken, and through spell and grammar checker, the typed text corrected! Ummmm, I know how deceiving that can be in English, although at a beginner or intermediate level, that may not be tragic.

In summary, this software appears to offer interactivity and stimulating visuals, along with a step by step approach. I would love to try it in Chinese and then decide if it is appropriate for given ELLs.

What do you think? Does anyone out there have experience with Rosetta Stone?

My First Photostory

Good Morning All,
Thanks to Lazardo, I just completed my first Photostory, and attempted to add it to my blog. The doors of creativity were flung shut as I realize that blogger apparently doesn't "do" videos. Anyone have an idea how to post videos?

Have a great weekend (and stay warm)!
Carol

Dr. Wright's Questions from 1/30/2007

Note: This picture of the Alhambra relates to the story about Spain below.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Reading Prompt #2
Readings: Egbert Ch. 2, Cummins Ch. 2, Richardson Ch. 3
What are "multiliteracies" as described by Cummins et al.? How does this relate to Egbert's assertions about the need for authentic materials to support ELL students' reading and writing? Discuss how blogs and blogging can be a tool for achieving these ideals with ELL students. Finally, describe your own experience creating your blog this week. Was it harder than you thought? What ideas do you have about the kind of stuff you want to blog about (besides what is required for this course)?

Cummins describes "multiliteracies" as the diversity of cultures, including languages, that children bring with them into the classroom. Not once does he mention "tabula rasa"--no Roman children. A bad joke! When the educator recognizes the child as an individual, it validates the person, which is in itself motivating. The culture of the individual can be used as a starting point for education in literacy; e.g., reading about that culture in English, translations, vocabulary, differences in pronunciation and sounds, etc., which provide enlightenment both ways and a positive means of looking at differences as being an aid rather than an encumbrance to education. In Mike's excellent discussion of Egbert's ideas, authenticity is determined by the learner. Thus for the ELL student, materials which are used by native EL speakers are relevant, but only authentic when the ELL can relate to them; in other words, when they contain something of interest (personally relevant). This implies interactivity in that the ELL student can take the opportunity to have feed back from native language speakers who would be familiar with these materials. This provides the opportunity for further English language interactions.

A personal experience is provided from my posting in the early 80's to Spain for Merck, the pharmaceutical company. Although I had studied Spanish in the University, and had read all the great classics, I had never really had the opportunity to speak Spanish. So suddenly I had a responsible marketing position, and the need to produce written and spoken language, and to understand the accent in Castillian! What I learned really fast were un jaleo , torreando con los coches, and selected swear words. Those first few rough months I got people to talk to me by showing my interest in native language Spanish materials--El Pais, the newspaper, quoting poetry that I had memorized, and even trying to get people to teach me songs. It worked! Although the Spanish found my babbling a bit disconcerting at times, some were impressed with my knowledge of Tirso de Molina, La Vida es Sueno, El Cantar de Mio Cid, las Harchas, etc. And I could see the light at the end of the tunnel when I started to gain a sense of humor in Castillian, and also to understand the Andalusian accent--"como eta ute?"

Blogs, and let me hasten to add Internet Telephony, are a great means of getting people talking and trying out what they know in a language. I am telling my friends about the blog, and getting them to respond in English or their native tongue. It is an interesting, friendly means for "trying out" language in a non-threatening atmosphere, and can be even addictive when postings to your blog become more frequent. The only complaint I have had so far is from my French friends who are looking for a French translation.

So far so good this week in developing the blog after the great introduction on Tuesday. There are not too many classes in which the students voluntarily stay late, and the Technology class is one! Thanks for giving us such great tools, Dr. Wright, and also to Lazardo with the wonderful Photostory 3 means of sharing pictures and music. I tried it once, and it didn't work, but will be back to try again. Google went down this morning when I was trying to post a picture, but I was able to add links to the sidebar and also in my text.

BTW, for you language and linguistics fans, here's a great link with postings of words and their etymology sent to your mailbox every morning:
www.yourdictionary.com

Let me know if you like it. Just one last note--I have sent feedback to everyone who posted before me--did you receive it?

Make My Day?

Have you ever thought about what or who makes your day? When you get right down to it, there is only one person who can make, or break your day. . . YOU. Whatever you perceive all has to go through your "filter" in order to interpret whether it is "the good, the bad, or the ugly." Beginning to re-train yourself to interpret people and events with understanding and sympathy, "Learned Optimism," can make a marked difference in your life, and that includes everything and everyone around you. So, Dirty Harry, I can not only make your day, but mine as well!

I thought you might enjoy the picture of Landshut, Germany above. It was taken by my friends Mauricette and Guy, who live near Paris (France, not Texas!) I used to work in this town, and loved the beautifully restored buildings and history on every corner. How lucky I was and am now, to be in another very historic town, San Antonio.

Are You Having a Great Day?

Welcome, willkommen, irashaemasu, ahlan wa sahlen, soyez les bienvenus, bienvenidos, benvenutti! Please add any words of welcome in your language!

You don't have to be on vacation to be having a great time. Just look around you, and be thankful for all you have. Your good mood tends to touch everything around you, and makes life more pleasant for others.

We had a great class last night in "Language Learning and Technology," and it is fun to become an active blogger. Write back to me and let me know what's up! Any comments or questions about this blogsite are welcome and will be responded to. Cheers, Carol